Swapping with Friends

This weekend, my friend hosted her 5th Swap Party. A few weeks before the event, she sends out the invitations and we clean out our closets, jewelry boxes, shoe racks, etc, etc. It's a fun day for girlfriends to hang out, sip some drinks and eat, chit chat, and "shop"!

The great thing about the Swap though, is that we donate everything else to the San Antonio Battered Womens' Shelter. It's a little way to help, but every little bit counts!

This year, I didn't think I would really get a lot from the swap because of my ever growing belly and swollen feet, but I did come home with a few goodies (to be showcased in future MLD postings!).

 

There was a lot of food, but my fave were the Chocolate
and Tres Leches cupcakes!





Mommy Musings: Gifts and Gift Registries



Everyone has been asking me for my gift registry, and while I've started on 3 (Amazon, BabiesRUs, and Target), I am honestly not sure if I am even adding the correct things to it. Every "Essentials List" I see/read are different! There ARE some basics, which I've added, but for the rest, it's been taking me a while to read product and consumer reviews.

In spite of that, a few of my friends have already given me little baby gifts. One of my closest and dearest, Cloe, just moved (out of the country), but before she left, she made sure she sent Baby E lots of gifts. It was such a great surprise, and I am truly lucky to have such awesome chicas!

One of the first gifts Baby E received (or this is actually more for me, I think) is a pretty cute photo frame. My friend Sharon  gave it to me at work on day, and when I saw it, i just about melted! Funny story about it-- when I saw the photo frame, I said "How did you get my baby's picture?! I haven't sent that out to anyone!". She looked at me funny and pointed out, it was the stock photo that came with the frame. I guess a lot of baby sonogram pics look the same, haha.

I put Baby E's picture in the frame and it sits on my desk here at work, so I can look at it when I'm having a stressful day and remind myself what a little blessing I have with me right now. Is it weird that I am already inlove with my son before I've even met him?



Left- stock photo
Right- Baby E



Mommy Musings and MLD: It ain't easy being green

It was a pretty quiet weekend. On Friday, we were at the doctor's office for a check-up (no gestational diabetes, whew!) and the 3D ultrasound. Unfortunately, Baby E is currently in frank breech position (both his legs over his head) so we did not get clear pictures. We get a second try in a few weeks. I have to be honest, it worried me, but the technician was telling me to relax because I still have 12 weeks for Baby E to turn into the correct birthing position... So I'm keeping my fingers crossed he does it before I go into labor!

On the home front, I put together 2 bookshelves and a mini cabinet for the nursery, and it is slowly coming along. I think I will be done with it by this coming weekend (If my husband finds the time to get the rocking recliner from my sis-in -law, that is!).

I mostly stayed at home, but on Saturday, hubs and I hit Cracker Barrel. Since San Antonio is still in the triple digits, I opted for a simple maxi dress and tried to keep cool.

The wait at Cracker Barrel is never boring, there's so much to look at!
I am loving all these apple thingimabobs (my kitchen has a red/apple theme)

At Cracker Barrel



Accessories of the day



Mommy Project #1 and #2: Throw Pillows and Picture Frames

My husband and I moved into our new house about 2 months ago. In the middle of my pregnancy, I have not really had much time and energy to spruce up our house (or completely unpack and put away boxes for that matter!).

The nursery is still in the works, and I am hoping to at least have furniture in the guest room before I deliver! Pretty much the first things I fixed up were the kitchen and the living area, since that is where we spend most of our time. I told my husband, as long as I get the nursery and guest room done, then I will tackle the rest of the house when I am on my maternity leave.

Yesterday, I had a bit of time on my hands and I decided to make a few throw pillow covers--I've been meaning to do this for the past, hmmm.... year or so!



My MINI Shark sewing machine that  I got on Black Friday 2 years for $9.99 at Target

Aside from my throw pillow covers, I had also been meaning to put up our wedding pictures above the fireplace. I got plain black picture frames from the Dollar Tree.

It took me 1 hour to complete 4 throw pillow covers. My sewing is RUSTY, and I followed no pattern really. I just put the pillow on the fabric and cut it up. I hemmed the edges and ironed on a leaf decal on 3 pillow cases, and fabric glued ribbons on the mini sham.



The vertical picture frame has our baby's ultrasound pics from when he was just a tiny dot, to when he was 15 weeks





I have an appointment this afternoon for a 3D ultrasound and I'm pretty excited about that! I need to get new picture frames for those new treasures I will be coming home with later.

So, what do you think about my little mommy project? Next up, I'm planning on sewing some curtains!

Mommy Trip: TX Vineyard Tour

This weekend was spent with some good friends, touring vineyards in Fredericksburg, TX. Everyone had a good time wine tasting, and I enjoyed chocolate and fudge tasting! It was a great day, nice, breezy weather, good food, great company, and just the relaxing weekend my husband and I needed before we start our weekends attending birthing and baby classes.

After the winery tours, we headed to Main Street, Fredericksburg, where we had a good lunch at the Fredericksburg Brewery. The rest of the day was spent walking around, looking at the little shops that dotted the main street, and tasting local honey, fudge, and jams!



One of the first vineyards we visited



The wine tasting came with a free wine glass



This is so cute- cork collector



Butterflies and Hummingbirds were out and about, enjoying the nice day!



Freshly picked grapes, we got to taste them. Yum!



One of the vineyards also had a lavender farm. They had lavender soaps, lip balms, lotions, and all sorts of goodies

Mommy Musings: Finally Friday!

It seems like time is just flying by... I'm about to enter my 28th week of being pregnant, and I am just now really working on the nursery. We finally decided on a theme so that should make it easier! I am also trying to prepare the guest room and the rest of the house because I am expecting family from out of town AND out of the country to come visit me and Baby E when he comes. I am trying to transition my work to a few people who will be covering for me when i go on maternity leave sometime in late October. I also still need to schedule and attend a few birthing and baby classes, and send the hubby to Daddy Boot Camp. Whew. Busy, busy, busy! So I am really glad it is Friday!

I surprised my husband with a couples massage. Well, regular massage for him, and a prenatal one for me. It was pure heaven! They even had chocolate covered strawberries and non-alcoholic drinks for us when we got there. The whole experience was wonderful, and I definitely needed the stress reliever!

I'm continually amazed at the moms I know who balance family, work, and are still able to take care of themselves! How do you moms do it?

MLD: Too busy for a Thursday

Today was a busy day at work, and thankfully I was wearing super comfy clothes and shoes. I spent most of the day on my feet, but with comfy shoes, it wasn't so bad. I probably needed the exercise anyway!



Breezy, stretchy red top and skirt

 

I bought the black patent shoes last year, and found the red ones on sale a few months ago
Black Patent YSL Multy bag



I was beat from work, so I was not up for cooking tonight. Convinced hubby to go with me for some Indian food. I love changing the look of an outfit by simply changing the accessories I wear. For dinner, I swapped my big bag for a little one and my brand new (size and a half bigger, thanks to swollen feet) Nine West shoes. I love these shoes! And Nine West is having their end of summer sale, and I got these for 60% off. Yey! 





Mommy Musings: Nesting

I smell pee everywhere. I'm not kidding, it's driving me nuts. No one else smells it but me. So at home, I have been busting out the Lysol and cleaning every nook and cranny, especially the Nursery. I'm disinfecting everything! My husband laughs at me and tells me I'm entering my "nesting phase", and I want to clean everything I see.

At the office, I am probably driving other people nuts as they hear me cleaning and organizing and re-organizing my work space. I have a corner work area, by a big window, and I am half-tempted to get on a window washer's lift and clean the grime outside my picture window.

Tuesday, Mommy Guilty Pleasure: Mmmm...Chocolate

We all have our little guilty pleasures, right? One of mine is chocolate- lots and lots of chocolate! If Willy Wonka's factory was real, I would've eaten all those chocolate bars too just to get a golden ticket and visit the factory and jump into a yummy pool of creamy chocolate. Mmmm...

Today, I have 2 guilty pleasures. The first is courtesy of my lovely friend, Sharon, who loves to cook and bake. She's already famous for her chocolate cupcakes, but she upped the ante today. She started with half an oreo base, her chocolate cupcake, topped that with home made frosting, and then the other half of the oreo. I am in hog heaven right now.



Yum!



And the second guilty pleasure of the day is an Upside Down Chocolate Flan courtesy of another generous co-worker, who left the flan in the breakroom for all to enjoy!  I love working in an office where people cook and bake and then share it with everyone! I think I am going to be "chocolate wasted"!



Layers of Chocolate goodness and Flan!



Hey, from time to time, we just have to indulge these little guilty pleasures, right?!

So, what's yours?

MLD: Running Errands

I spent the weekend running errands EVERYWHERE! The bank, grocery store, baby store, pet store, home improvement and automotive stores. Everywhere. And it's just been crazy hot here in Texas. We have been in the triple digits for over a month now and it's crazy when I hear other parts of the nation and the world are getting bombarded with rain.

My secret weapon for this heat is lugging around a gallon size Igloo water bottle with lots of ice and refreshing water. Sunshades in the car, and a hat for me are must-haves right now.

 


Comfy flip-flops and a small bag are all I need!

 

Silver and Turquoise cuff bracelet (pawnshop find for $15)
and Mother of Pearl stenciled earrings from Forever 21




Necklace was handmade for me by my step-mom!
Straw Hat: Macy's

 

MLD: Baby got Black

Okay so the title is a bit cheesy, but I just heard "Baby Got Back" on the radio while driving home.

It's funny, people are so nice and generous with pregnant women, offering to carry grocery bags, letting me go through the check-out line first, etc... Even at work, people I do not normally interact with have gone out of their way to talk to me. Women who normally would not say hello (according to the hubby, I give off a very snobby vibe, gasp!), say hi and ask about my pregnancy. I told my husband, it's like instant acceptance to the mommy sorority!

My MLD black dress is courtesy of this instant access to that sorority. A co-worker offered me the use of her pregnancy clothes. Of course I said yes, she has great style and hey, "new" clothes! And you can never go wrong with a LBD rght? I kept it simple, with a gray bag, grayish whte shoes, and simple jewelry that my dad gave me years and years ago.



Dress: Gap Maternity (thank you generous co-worker!)
Bag: Gray YSL Muse
Shos: Whitish Gray Kitten Heels from Payless



My husband and I decided to eat out tonight. Well, actually I told him I'd take him out to dinner if he would put up curtain rods in the nursery! I just changed my bag and shoes, and voila, i was ready for date night with the hubby and some friends.

Shoes: Aerosoles
Bag: cloth and satin clutch from Marshalls, a steal at $9.99!

Mommy Musings: Hopsital Visit at 1:00 a.m. and Ode to my Husband

I was reminded once again how blessed I am to have my husband in my life. Last night, at around midnight, I felt something weird happening so he made me call the nurse. An hour later, we were instructed to go to the hospital and head straight to labor and delivery. He seemed calm driving us to the hospital but I could tell there was a bit of nervousness there too. After 20 miles, 10 minutes looking for the entrance to the parking lot, and another 15 minutes trying to find labor and delivery, we finally made it.

We thought I was leaking amniotic fluid, but, thankfully, all is well. He stayed with me through the whole thing and rubbed my head so I could relax.I knew he was dead tired, but he tried to stay chipper and awake the whole time. Finally, we got home at about 4:30 a.m. and headed straight to dream land. I got to stay in bed and sleep the whole day and get some much needed rest, but my husband had to go to the office and have business meetings.

I always hear about pregnancy and the mommys, but i don't really hear about the dad during this time. But I realized, it must be a trying period for them as well, having to deal with our volatile tempers due to hormones, our crazy food cravings, etc, etc...

Meeting him and marrying him almost 7 years ago was one of the biggest adventures of my life. And now that we are expecting our first born, the 2 of us are about to embark on a whole new chapter of our lives together.

I know that in between all the laughter and love, there will always be little annoyances, but at the end of the day, I am forever grateful he is the man who will be next to me in the delivery room, trying to calm me down as I scream colorful expletives at him :)

MLD: Lady in Red

Red is one of my favorite colors. It just adds such a pop to anything. Today, I paired this easy breezy red stretch dress with neutral shoes and a clutch, and gold and onyx jewelry. I've had this dress for about a year now, and it has transitioned from pre-pregnancy to ballooned up me easily.

YSL Belle Du Jour clutch and color block kitten heels

Rose Gold Love Bracelet, Gold Necklace with Onyx Pendant and Onyx studs

Mommy Musings: Getting the Nursery Ready

One of my co-workers went into unexpected labor 2 weeks ago. Thankfully, both mommy and baby are safe and sound, and healthy. It got me thinking about my pregnancy and where I am right now. At 26 weeks, I think I still have a lot of time to get things ready, but when I really think about it, baby's ETA is just around the corner! So now, I'm in panic mode. I need to start a baby registry, everyone is asking me about a baby shower, the nursery is one empty room, and since my husband and I just moved to a new house 2 months ago, there's still boxes and mess EVERYWHERE!

Hubby tries to help, but I am a control freak, even more so now that I have the nesting bug, so he has been instructed to NOT touch anything! But seeing mess everywhere, and an empty nursery is driving me insane.... I am making a promise to myself that I will get the baby's room ready within the next 2 weeks!

What do you think? Am I worrying over nothing? My husband thinks so!